Photos Reveal Extensive Oil Sheen Left By Hurricanes Laura and Delta | The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel

Photos

The hurricanes made landfall near more than 1,400 active and 480 orphaned oil wells on the Louisiana coast.

ByNicole BonaccorsoOctober 22, 2020

Southwestern Louisiana has begun the daunting process of cleaning up the extensive oil sheen left by hurricanes Delta and Laura earlier this month.

The first storm, Laura, left the most oil behind when it hit the area on Aug. 27. Then Delta hit just 13 miles east 43 days later, exacerbating the spills.

New Orleans-based photographer Julie Dermansky toured the area via plane with the Iberian Free Press on Oct. 12 and for Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) on Oct. 14, just days after Delta's landfall. They flew a similar path after Laura.

Weather in your inbox
By signing up you agree to the Terms & Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe at any time.

(MORE: How Much Oil Did Hurricane Laura Spill? The Answer is Still Unknown)

Dermansky said she was not surprised to see more oil spills after Delta.

"The oil wasn’t visible over as vast an area as it was following Laura, but there was enough of it that it was easy to find," Dermansky said. "Every time there is an extreme weather event, it is a safe bet that there will be new spills."

Her images show people on airboats erecting booms to contain oil spills, as well as crushed and toppled oil storage containers after Hurricane Delta's surge hit Creole and Cameron parishes.

The hurricanes made landfall near more than 1,400 active and more than 480 orphaned oil wells on the Louisiana coast, which is also packed with gas wells, pipelines and rigs. By the time Delta struck, officials had yet to assess how much oil was spilled by Laura.

With climate change fueling bigger and more frequent storms, the time left to repair damage is shortening between one storm's end and another's landfall.

But while families and businesses may decide to move and rebuild in less vulnerable areas, oil must be stored and exported from where it exists — along the Gulf Coast — where storms are increasing and worsening.

Louisiana's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was checking on hundreds of orphaned wells after Laura's landfall when Delta struck, and now most of the same wells will need to be inspected again, along with additional wells farther east.

DNR's spokesman, Patrick Courreges, told weather.com that inspections are further complicated by damaged roads and communication systems. But, he said, DNR already knew where a lot of the problem spots were.

"A lot of the footprint was the same, so we can circle back around to the wells that were more at risk," Courreges said. "But we're still working through it, because in the first weeks after Laura, there were wells on a road you could just drive up to. Those are easy to get to. The ones that need a boat ride, those are a little slower. Then the ones that are deep in the marsh with no road, and you're basically having to hack your way to them. Those are the ones that are taking the longest."

After Delta's flooding, some of the harder-to-access wells are now even more difficult to reach.

Dermansky said she hopes her photos bring attention to the environmental havoc storms can cause.

"After covering storms for the last decade, it is clear to me that all industrial sites in a storm’s path have the potential to pollute the environment," Dermansky said. "I do what I can to get to document pollution in major storms’ aftermath’s because I think it is important to make people aware of the problem."

MORE FROM WEATHER.COM: Hurricane Delta in Photos

Slideshow

1/267

The aftermath of Hurricane Delta is seen Saturday Oct. 10, 2020, near Jennings, La. (Bill Feig/The Advocate via AP, Pool)